Isle of Wight in Lonely Planet Top Ten Cycling Routes

Anyone who reads the latest Lonely Planet Best in Travel Guide (2010) may well be cycling up to the ferry terminals on the mainland and heading our way.

That’s because Lonely Planet, who produce some of the most popular travels guides, have placed the Isle of Wight in the top ten of cycling routes in the World.

Yes folks, we’re sitting alongside the likes of Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy and Mont Ventoux in France.

Here is their entry for the Island.

ISLE OF WIGHT, ENGLAND
The Isle of Wight is a cycling paradise that is home to some of the UK’s most varied terrain: lush velvet hills rolling into the sea, narrow lanes through tidy hedgerows, deep and mysterious green gullies, and the island’s most striking feature, the ridge of white chalk cliffs stretching across its breadth. Although cyclists have been enjoying its outdoor pleasures for decades now, it’s only been in recent years that Wight has started to attract young and trendy Londoners looking for a romantic weekend by the sea with a buzz – which gastropubs, slick hotels and a calendar full of festivals now provide.